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(More customer reviews)I was lucky enough to catch Cheaters on HBO around two in the morning. Though it might, at first, appear to be just another overly "hip" teen comedy, Cheaters is actually one of the best films about high school that I've ever seen. Nicely blending comedy and coming-of-age drama, Cheaters tells the true story of how underdog Stienmetz High School won the 1995 Illinios Academic Decathalon just to then lose their accolades when it was revealed they'd cheated. As someone who was a part of the whole AcDec subculture in high school, I can say that this film managed to perfectly capture the feeling and the atmosphere of that competition, showing not only how it often gives a much needed sense of purpose to students who, otherwise, don't have a place in the highly regimented caste system of high school but also how public, urban-based schools often face a great deal of elitist bias in favor of more exclusive private and magnet schools. While the film never makes the mistake of excusing or trivializing the cheating, it also makes it clear that the students of Stienmetz and similar schools often are treated unfairly by a stagnant system that has decided to give up on them. In the end, it's hard not to feel sympathetic to these students even as they cheat and it's also hard not to feel that, whatever mistakes were made, the actions taken as a result, by both the media and the Chicago School Board, were even worse. The film perfectly captures the exhiliration of the student's initial victory and, just as perfectly, the terror of being judged in the mad feeding frenzy that grew out of the Stienmetz Scandal. (In one of the film's best scenes, we watch as investigators tell lies of their own to trick the students into confessing just to then give a press conference where they tell reporters that the students are the "coldest," most calculating bunch of liars they've ever experienced.) The film benefits from a talented cast of mostly unknown young actors who manage to flawlessly blend into an always-watchable ensemble. The stand-out amongst the younger actors is Jena Malone, showing a previously untapped range as the most unrepentant of the cheaters. She manages to be chillingly single-minded in the way only a teenager can while at the same time displaying an appealing vulnerability. Too smart for the world of teenagers yet to young for the world of adults, Malone gives a performance similar to Reese Whitherspoon's ground-breaking and brilliant work in Election (which, itself, makes a nice companion piece to this film) but at the same time claims this character as uniquely her own and establishes herself as an underrated actress to watch. As the AcDec coach, Jeff Daniels gives probably his best performance since the Purple Rose of Cairo, bringing some wonderfully ambigous shadings to a character who, at first, just seems to be a stereotypical wimp. After years of appearing in roles not up to his talent, Daniels reminds us that he is one of our most unpredictable actors and his performance here, bravely playing a character who isn't always likeable, will keep viewers guessing as to whether Daniels is the story's hero or its villian. Amongst the other performances, mention should be made of Paul Sorvino who gives a brilliantly comical performance as the school's clueless principal. Even as one is left to ponder the many issues raised by the film, it's hard not to smile at just the image of Sorvino, joyously and ineptly dancing at a school pep rally while the band plays a listless version of "Gonna Fly Now." Its a small, almost cliched role but Sorvino brings a touch of inspired lunacy to both it and the film.
John Stockwell, who both directed and wrote the script, has made a name for himself by making films that deal with flawed human beings whose only real mistake is realizing that the world is made up of shades of gray even as everyone else insists that everything is black-and-white. A former actor who, like the students of Stienmetz, never quite got the appreciation he deserved, Stockwell has shown with this film, his later Crazy/Beautiful, and his script for Breast Men to have a valuable and unique talent for catching the absurdities of everyday life, consistently crafting scenes that manage to be both surprising and true-to-life. (Certainly one of the highlights here is a small but knowing scene where Daniels and his students plan their post-scandal damage control by watching Stand and Deliver, the prototype for the many dedicated-teacher-in-urban-school-films that this film both comments on and sends up). With Cheaters, Stockwell maintains a perfect combination of the absurd and the realistic while keeping the story moving at just the right pace. As well, Stockwell takes one of the most overused techniques of modern film -- the montage scored by an alternative top ten hit -- and actually manages to pull it off. This alone makes him nearly unique amongst Hollywood's young directors. Perhaps even more so than Crazy/Beautiful, Cheaters proves that John Stockwell is one of the most interesting unknown directors out there and stands as a glowing testament to both his talent and the talents of his unsung actors. By all means, see this film.
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In a major academic contest against affluent Whitney High, the struggling kids of Steinmetz High School know they didn't have a chance. But one teacher and seven of his students had a dream. They knew they could succeed with the right amount of study, the right application, the right discipline...the right answers. When an opportunity to win presents itself, it's a no brainer-and for seven kids and their teacher, that could be the problem.
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